Comparing Hot Toys DX06 Captain Jack Sparrow head sculpt with the other earlier released heads

This is the latest released Hot Toys MMS DX06 "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" Captain Jack Sparrow (the ever brilliant Johnny Depp) 1/6 scale head sculpt :) From what I've seen and read, the DX06 Captain Jack Sparrow is SHORT i.e. he's a much smaller figure than all the other 1/6 scale figures which are about 12 inches tall. DX06 Jack is only slightly taller than Medicom's puny Jack Sparrow action figure :( and wouldn't be able to stand beside the rest of the other Hot Toys "Pirates of the Caribbean" figures because he is almost a dwarf and would fit better with the hobbits from the Lord of the Rings or the Jawas from Star Wars. SIGH! I don't like when that happens. If there's already a scale established, stick to it. It's better for the figures to look good together than to have one figure stand way shorter than the rest when he's not supposed to. Hot Toys DX06 Jack Sparrow figure is supposedly based on Johnny Depp's actual height of 5'9" and the original version would have put him at 6'4" but the problem with being that accurate is: DX Jack is now SHORTER than the rest :(

So I only got the DX06 Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow 1/6 scale head sculpt in order to plonk it onto the original Hot Toys released Jack Sparrow figure instead. Don't really care much for the other items in the DX06 box set, just wanted the Jack Sparrow head. So the picture you see above is the 2007 released Hot Toys "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)" 1/6 scale Jack Sparrow (more pictures HERE) with 2012 released DX06 Jack Sparrow head. Not a bad fit IMHO Scroll down to see the other Hot Toys Jack Sparrow head sculpts for comparison.


The picture below is that of the Hot Toys first released Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow 1/6 scale 12-inch figure from "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)". Aside from the not too Johnny Depp looking head sculpt, the outfit and accessories were very well made and produced for its time and still looks good today :) The tailoring and materials used do not bulk up and make the figure look bloated or puffed up but instead allowed the figure to look realistic and natural, a far cry from the tailoring of olden times when a 1/6 scale figure cannot put on too many layers of clothing otherwise he'll look like a pumpkin.

When Hot Toys first released this "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)" Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow 1/6 scale 12-inch figure more than four years ago, many people / collectors were bowled over by the tailoring / stitching and clever use of materials for the garments / outfit / attire. The result was a multi-layered look without the unnatural bulk that was unavoidable with other 1/6 manufacturers / companies' earlier released figures. Well, the outfit still looks GOOD today :)

Scroll down to see close-up pictures taken of the Hot Toys "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)" Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow 1/6 scale head sculpt which cannot be compared to the fine craftsmanship and artistic talents of the sculptors today. A lot of improvement has been seen in this area since. The likeness and resemblance to the actors playing the roles have become so good that sometimes you'll think that you were looking at the actor's photograph instead of that of a 12-inch action figure. Alas in 2007 when this pirate figure was released, standards weren't as high as they are today.

Note especially the sculpting of 1/6 scale Jack Sparrow's hair and details. Then scroll down to see the latest Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow head sculpt to compare the greatly improved standards of hair sculpting (or shall we call it hair styling?)

The dilemma with head scarves is: do they use actual cloth material or sculpt and mold them in plastic? In this case, Jack's 1/6 scale head scarf is plastic but that's not so for Hot Toys' Platoon figures where the head scarves are made from cloth and looks rather authentic.

Johnny Depp wore a wig to portray Sparrow's dreadlocks, an aesthetic influenced by Depp's rock n' roll approach to pirates. In addition to a red bandanna Sparrow wears numerous objects in his hair, influenced by Keith Richards' habit of collecting souvenirs from his travels; Sparrow's decorations include his "piece of eight", the Spanish dollar of approximately 38 mm diameter that was minted in the Spanish Empire after a Spanish currency reform in 1497.

And this is the Hot Toys Movie Masterpiece Series (MMS) "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" 1/6 scale Johnny Depp as Cannibal King Jack Sparrow 12-inch figure and what a stunning head sculpt this is! Don't mind the necklace made of human toes ;p

The "feather duster" crown Jack wore in the 2006 pirate film was replicated in mind-blowing 1/6 detail and combined with the amazing head sculpt really makes this Hot Toys Cannibal King Jack Sparrow 12-inch figure stand out

Scroll down to see close-up shots of the fantastic Johnny Depp as Cannibal King Jack Sparrow head sculpt that is as good today as when it was first released back in 2008 :) My younger son happened to see the pictures on the computer screen when I was preparing to blog on this and couldn't believe that this was a picture of a toy / action figure. He actually thought this was a screen shot of the actor taken from the film! The head sculpt just blows the mind!

To see more pictures of this Hot Toys Movie Masterpiece Series (MMS) "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" 1/6 scale Johnny Depp as Cannibal King Jack Sparrow 12-inch figure, check out my post HERE (with packaging box shots and turnaround views)

Among Johnny Depp's additional ideas for Captain Jack Sparrow's costume was the necklace made of human toes that Sparrow wears as the Pelegosto prepare to eat him, and the sceptre was based on one a friend of Depp's owned.

And finally, we come to the latest Hot Toys DX Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow head sculpt from the "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" film. Like I mentioned before, the sculpting skills on this is phenomenal and is most likely the best Hot Toys head sculpt by far. Don't get me started with their DX Indiana Jones head sculpt because the standard for that one fell short. The sculpt for this is spot on but the figure became short instead.

Hot Toys MMS DX06 POTC OST "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" Captain Jack Sparrow uses their patented Parallel Eyeball Rolling System (PERS) which allows the eyes to look in every direction possible for that extra realism. It was first used on their DX01 TDK "The Dark Knight" Joker 12-inch figure (check out my post HERE with pictures of the rolling eyes -  creepy!)

Truth be told, rolling eyes aren't new at all. Way back in 1977, Hasbro and Palitoy introduced the Eagle Eyes to the Action Man 12-inch figure and back then, children were already playing with 1/6 figures that had moving eyes.

This back view of the Hot Toys DX06 Captain Jack Sparrow head gives you an idea of the improvements made since 2007. When you compare this picture with the one above (almost at the top of this post) you can see the difference the few years have made for 1/6 scale 12-inch figures.

And here's good old Captain Jack Sparrow with a brand new head :) No one in Disney Studio, not even the executives could have foreseen what Johnny Depp would bring to the film "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl". At the first read-through, Depp surprised the rest of the cast and crew by portraying the character in an off-kilter manner. After researching 18th-century pirates, Depp compared them to modern rock stars and decided to base his performance on Keith Richards.

Disney executives were confused, asking Depp whether the character was drunk or gay, and Michael Eisner even proclaimed while watching rushes, "He's ruining the film!" Depp answered back, "Look, these are the choices I made. You know my work. So either trust me or give me the boot."

"The Curse of the Black Pearl" was an unexpected success, with positive reviews and grossing over $653 million worldwide. The film became the first in a series, with two back-to-back sequels, "Dead Man's Chest" and "At World's End", released in 2006 and 2007. A spinoff/sequel to the trilogy, "On Stranger Tides", was released in 2011. The original film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Johnny Depp.

Now every girl wants to be with Jack and every guy wants to be Jack ;p How fortunes have turned. Captain Jack Sparrow became the new anti-hero, preferring to flee most dangerous situations and fight only when necessary.

Jack Sparrow was originally conceived as a supporting character. He was brought to life by actor Johnny Depp, who based his characterization on The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and cartoon character Pepé Le Pew. Who would've thought the two had anything in common and what a role Depp has created with Captain Jack Sparrow, bringing to life a genre that everyone thought was long forgotten.

Empire declared Johnny Depp's performance to be the seventy-fourth "thing that rocked our world" in 2006 when celebrating 200 issues and later named him as the eighth greatest movie character of all time. A survey of more than 3,000 people showed Jack Sparrow was the most popular Halloween costume of 2006, and a 2007 poll held by the Internet Movie Database showed Sparrow to be the second most popular live action hero, after Indiana Jones.

Here's a close up view of Hot Toys Captain Jack Sparrow 12-inch figure holding up his flintlock pistol

And here's another shot of 1/6 scale Captain jack Sparrow with his saber. He could fight if he had to but being the cunning pirate that he is, he would rather avoid it, surviving mostly by using wit and negotiation rather than weapons or force.

Sparrow's weapons are genuine 18th century pieces: his sword dates to the 1740s, while his pistol is from the 1760s. Both were made in London. Johnny Depp used two pistols on set, one being rubber. Sparrow wears four rings, two of which belong to Depp. Depp bought the green ring in 1989, and the gold ring is a replica of a 2400-year old ring. The other two are props to which Depp gave backstories: the gold-and-black ring is stolen from a Spanish widow Sparrow seduced, and the green dragon ring recalls his adventures in the Far East.

And there you have it: comparison of three Hot Toys Captain Jack Sparrow heads in one blog post :) although there are two more not featured (both smiling versions) - one from the Cannibal King Jack Sparrow set and the other is from the DX06 set with PERS (Parallel Eyeball Rolling System) as well.